Twins 16, Cubs 3: Huge Run Support Helps Varland to First Win This Season

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins finished their homestand with a strong series win over the Chicago Cubs. After scoring 11 runs on Saturday afternoon, the Twins scored 16 on Sunday and set a Target Field record with 29 runs in the three-game series. Along with big offense, the Twins got another strong start from Louie Varland. 

Image courtesy of Matt Blewitt, USA Today

Box Score
SP: Louie Varland: 6 1/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (97 pitches, 64 strikes (66.0%)
Home Runs: Larnach (4), Gallo (9), Taylor (5) 
Top/Bottom 3 WPA: Trevor Larnach (0.230), Louie Varland (0.159), Carlos Correa (0.138) 

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Pregame Notes 
Happy Mothers Day to all the moms and grandmas and wives! I always enjoy how the Twins social media posts the team’s lineup on Mothers Day. 

Coming into the game, Twins starting pitchers led MLB in innings pitched with 227 1/3 innings. They also lead MLB in FIP (3.15), WHIP (1.06) and strikeouts (259). They are second in ERA (3.01) and batting average against (.220).  

Varland Victorious  
As mentioned above, the Twins starters lead MLB in rotation innings pitched. They are averaging 5.7 innings per outing. Last year, they averaged 4.8 innings to start. Louie Varland added to those totals with a really nice start on Sunday afternoon and earned his first win of the season. 

It just started out well with a nine-pitch first inning. Varland, as he does, worked really fast, mixing a big fastball with his cutter, slider and change up. He threw 48 fastballs among his 97 pitches and averaged 94.9 with it. He topped out at 96.5 mph. He threw 22 cutters, 14 changeups and 13 sliders. Cubs batters swung at 54 of his pitches and whiffed 16 times (22 foul balls). 

As important as all of that, Varland pitched just how you would hope with a big lead early. He worked fast. He threw strikes. While he got strikeouts, he wasn’t afraid of giving up some contact. Christopher Morel and Seiya Suzuki each hit a solo home run. Unfortunately, the final batter he faced walked on his 97th pitch and that was it for his day. He completed a career-high 6 1/3 innings. 

Emilio Pagan came on and gave up two singles that scored the third run charged to Varland. 

Early Offense  
Marcus Stroman has been quite good for the Cubs early this season. Coming into this game, he was just 2-3 despite a 2.28 ERA. He had completed at least six innings in seven of his eight starts. Against the Dodgers in late April, he gave up five earned runs on six hits and a walk in five innings. 

In this start, the Twins knocked him out after just 2 2/3 innings. He was charged with six runs on seven hits and two walks. Michael Rucker came on and allowed the inherited runner to score and two more runs. 

Now let’s get to the Twins side of things. Following Varland’s quick top of the first, the Twins got on the board right away in the bottom half. Alex Kirilloff got things started with a one-out single to center. Carlos Correa then doubled into the left field corner. Tommy Watkins aggressively sent Kirilloff home. He scored easily and the Twins had a 1-0 lead.

The Twins then scored seven runs in the third inning. Trevor Larnach came to the plate with two runners on and two outs in a 1-0 game. After a back-and-forth battle with Stroman, Larnach got a slider in the middle of the plate and deposited it into the right field bleachers to give them a 4-0 lead.

Kyle Farmer doubles. Nick Gordon doubled him in and then scored on a Christian Vazquez single to right. Joey Gallo ended the inning’s scoring with a long two-run homer.  

Correa’s Crusade 
Earlier in the homestand, the boo birds came out at Target Field, aimed in the direction of Carlos Correa. At the time, he was hitting .185 and really scuffling. Asked about the boos, he acknowledged them and said that he didn’t blame the fans for doing it. He said he hasn’t been playing well. 

Was he worried? No. Should Twins fans have been worried? Of course not. 

On Sunday, he went 2-for-5 with a double to raise his average to .207. Over the past five games, Correa has at least one hit in each game. He is 7-for-21 with two walks, four doubles, a homer, and eight RBI. 

Buxton Breaks Streak
In the first inning, Byron Buxton singled. That ended an 0-for-26 stretch. He ended the game 2-for-5, so now he's in a 2-for-30 slump, but that's much better. It's a start, and his at-bats were much cleaner. 

Farmer Fond of Playing Everyday
Kyle Farmer missed a month after being hit in the face with a Lucas Giolito fastball. He has started all five games since his return at third base. He has at least one hit in all five games, and is 7-for-18 (.389) in that stretch. He also looks very smooth at third base defensively. 

Late-Inning Offense
The Twins have had some big innings early in games, but it was nice to have a huge inning late in a game too. Sure, it would have been great to have saved the big late-inning run production for a game later this week maybe. 

Emilio Pagan got a big strikeout of Christopher Morel to end the seventh inning with the Twins leading 8-3. In the bottom of the seventh, the Twins scored a run off of Julian Merryweather to get the run back. 

Then came the bottom of the eighth frame. #OldFriend Michael Fulmer came on. He gave up three runs and recorded just two outs. It was at that point when Cubs manager David Ross could go to a position player (based on the new league rules of when they can pitch). Miles Mastrobuoni was the choice. The first four batters he faced recorded hits. He gave up an RBI single to Kyle Farmer, a run-scoring double to Nick Gordon, an RBI single to Christian Vazquez, and a long, two-run homer for Michael A. Taylor. 

Gallo Exits Early
In his final at-bat of the day, Joey Gallo grounded into a double play. After crossing first base, he slowed down and grabbed his right hamstring. While he tried to stay in the game, Rocco Baldelli immediately took him out and replaced him with Michael A. Taylor (who certainly took advantage of his one at-bat in the game).  

Everybody Contributes!
All nine batters in the starting lineup had at least one hit. Six had at least two hits in the game. That's the kind of win that can really help bring a team together. They will need that this coming week. 

The Twins won two out of three against both the Padres and the Cubs on this homestand. They are now 14-8 at Target Field, and they're 6-6 in interleague play. This was just the third time in Twins history that they have had back-to-back 10-run games. The last time was April 24th and 25th, 1996. 

The Twins out-hit the Cubs significantly in this game. The Cubs are now 0-15 when they are out-hit by their opponent. 

What’s Next? 
It’s going to be one of those weeks where Twins fans will struggle to get up for work a few mornings. The Twins will be doin’ a little west coast swing. They start a three-game series on Monday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They will have a day off in LA on Thursday before playing three games against the Angels in Anaheim. 

Monday 9:10 pm: RHP Pablo Lopez (2-2, 3.47) vs. Noah Syndergaard (1-3, 6.12)
Tuesday 9:10 pm: RHP Bailey Ober (2-0, 1.85) vs. Clayton Kershaw (6-2, 2.36)
Wednesday 2:10 pm: RHP Sonny Gray (4-0, 1.39) vs. RHP Dustin May (4-1, 2.68) 

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Chart 

	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOT
Sands	0	0	0	54	0	54
Alcala	0	0	33	0	13	46
Jax	17	0	26	0	0	43
Lopez	17	15	0	0	9	41
Pagán	0	12	0	0	23	35
Stewart	9	25	0	0	0	34
Morán	0	0	9	24	0	33
Durán	17	0	0	0	0	17

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[blindeke]

Gallo is truly the most extreme player.

[D.C Twins]

Louie, Louie.... oooooh, oh....we got a win now.... yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.....

[jmlease1]

Great to see the offense have another big day. Stroman has been really good this season, so knocking him out early is pretty dang good. Good work on offense up and down the order. Kirilloff's wrist must be feel good, but I'm also glad to see Correa looking like he's rounding into form.

Varland did a nice job front-running the game. Good sign when the biggest problem is him giving up a couple of solo shots when we have a big lead. (I do worry a little about his propensity to give up the long ball)

Like the way the Twins are defending home territory. Always happy to see a series win.

Don't care for having position players pitch, and I have to say it seems pretty silly for 1 out. (though we may have seen why the Twins decided not to bring back Fulmer)

[Mike Sixel]

90 win pace..... I'm a fan

[ashbury]

I'll want to see it against other opponents but these past two games against the Cubs were a welcome tonic for Twins offense.

[Beast]

With Kirilloff seemingly back to pre-injury and Correa heating up….buckle up.  We might have something here.

 

 

[Nashvilletwin]

Quick observations:

1. Nice show for the fans - a few of these really help the narrative.

2. Correa hitting well is a big key to this team in more ways than one.

3. We have five legit starters: two #2’s pitching like #1’s. A #2 pitching like a #2. A #4 pitching like a #2 and a #5 pitching better than most #3’s and #4’s. Hate to say it, but Ober and Varland > Mahle and Maeda.

4. The middle to backend of the bullpen is pretty scary at the moment. No timetable on Thielbar?

5. I’d be interested if one of the incredibly capable stats people on this site could dig up stats on which teams lead the majors in: a) total walks given up in the 8th and 9th innings, and b) lead off walks given up in those last two frames. I have suspicions….lol.

Great series win, nice gift to all those Twins fans moms!  On to the Dodgers!

[FlyingFinn]

What was our #1 complaint last year..................... starting pitching!  Love the start of this article:

"Coming into the game, Twins starting pitchers led MLB in innings pitched with 227 1/3 innings. They also lead MLB in FIP (3.15), WHIP (1.06) and strikeouts (259). They are second in ERA (3.01) and batting average against (.220)."

[h2oface]

This team CAN hit, after all!

[I wish the twins were good]

"This was just the third time in Twins history that they have had back-to-back 10-run games. The last time was April 24th and 25th, 1996."

This didn't sound right to me so I checked - they haven't had back to back wins by 10+ runs since 1996, but they have had back to back 10+ run games as recently as 2019, when they did it multiple times.

[jimbo92107]

Congrats to Louie Varland. He says he schools off Joe Ryan...might be better if he finds a few vids of 3-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer. Varland's delivery does resemble Sherzer's, so anything he can do to make the resemblance stronger probably would be good.

Remember when a few mlb players tried to copy Rod Carew's hitting style?

Question for the TD folks: I suppose it can be fun watching major leaguers tee off on a position player pitching, but honestly, doesn't that make a mockery of the game? I would rather see the umpires call it a day and simply say, "game over," than see players going through the motions, especially at what's supposed to be the pinnacle of professional competition. 

[stringer bell]

All of those bad offensive numbers improved quite a bit in the last two days. Beating up on the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th guys in an 8-man bullpen is the way to do that. I doubt that the Twins have had more one-sided victories than other teams with winning records, but I'm sure the naysayers will be reminding us that they "ran up the score" on a cooked bullpen and a position player. 

It won't be easy on the west coast. The Twins get Syndegaard, Kershaw and May when they face the Dodgers and get two lefties and Ohtani (I think) when they face the Angels. 

[Shaitan]

Love seeing Varland deal at home. It feels like the Twins have had a lot of successful homegrown stories.

[Squirrel]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

Beating up on the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th guys in an 8-man bullpen is the way to do that.

True. But today the beating up started with Stroman, a good starting pitcher

[Rik19753]

This blowout win gives the Twins a +43 point differential on the year, which is 5th in the Majors.

The teams above them: Rays, Rangers, Braves, Dodgers

The teams right below them: Orioles, Cubs, Mariners, Astros, Blue Jays

That is some pretty great company. Looking at the records of the other teams on this list, one could argue that the Twins should actually have an even better record.

Oh, and the next best AL Central team is the Guardians, who have a -23 run differential and are 22nd. 

I'm going to be really disappointed if we don't win the division this year.

[Jocko87]

6 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Don't care for having position players pitch, and I have to say it seems pretty silly for 1 out. (though we may have seen why the Twins decided not to bring back Fulmer)

Sometimes its hard to see the wins where the FO passed on someone.  Combine this with the Willson Contreras thing this week and they are looking OK.  Oh, and Gallo.

[VivaBomboRivera!]

12 hours ago, stringer bell said:

The Twins get Syndegaard, Kershaw and May when they face the Dodgers

All three of whom are performing more poorly than their three Twins counterparts. Looking forward to this series, more so if we keep hitting.

Edited May 15, 2023 by VivaBomboRivera!
effing auto-correct

[VivaBomboRivera!]

5 hours ago, h2oface said:

This team CAN hit!

When they put their minds to it, apparently…. 🙃

[VivaBomboRivera!]

7 hours ago, blindeke said:

Gallo is truly the most extreme player.

Hope that hammy’s OK! The man is really smoking when he makes contact!

 

One additional upside to having Gallo lead off - he can’t hit into a double play! 🤪

[VivaBomboRivera!]

Does anyone remember the last time they saw back—to-back skunks by one ML team over another?

[h2oface]

1 hour ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

All three of whom are performing more poorly than their three Tins counterparts. Looking forward to this series, more so if we keep hitting.

Kershaw is pitching great. Plus, my bet is Syndergaard will not be pitching and it will be Gavin Stone. Blister will take him out even if he does try to start. Stone is a top prospect that got roughed up in his debut, but amazing how the Twins have made guys like this look good. The Twins pitchers do look to be the best bet...... on paper.

[Doctor Wu]

12 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Great to see the offense have another big day. Stroman has been really good this season, so knocking him out early is pretty dang good. Good work on offense up and down the order. Kirilloff's wrist must be feel good, but I'm also glad to see Correa looking like he's rounding into form.

Varland did a nice job front-running the game. Good sign when the biggest problem is him giving up a couple of solo shots when we have a big lead. (I do worry a little about his propensity to give up the long ball)

Like the way the Twins are defending home territory. Always happy to see a series win.

Don't care for having position players pitch, and I have to say it seems pretty silly for 1 out. (though we may have seen why the Twins decided not to bring back Fulmer)

Yeah, I was worried about the Twins facing Stroman ... but what a bust-out game for the batters! Glad that my worries ended up being nothing at all!

[Doctor Wu]

11 hours ago, h2oface said:

This team CAN hit, after all!

Yes, they can. But the hits still seem to be more of the home run variety lately (again, I'm not checking stats before I make this observation, so correct me if I'm totally off base!). Not a horrible thing, obviously, but I'd also like to see more singles and doubles as opposed to strikeouts. 

[Riverbrian]

If the Twins can score 10 runs a game from here on out. 

I promise to not complain about the offense for the rest of the season. 

[Karbo]

10 hours ago, jimbo92107 said:

Congrats to Louie Varland. He says he schools off Joe Ryan...might be better if he finds a few vids of 3-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer. Varland's delivery does resemble Sherzer's, so anything he can do to make the resemblance stronger probably would be good.

Remember when a few mlb players tried to copy Rod Carew's hitting style?

Question for the TD folks: I suppose it can be fun watching major leaguers tee off on a position player pitching, but honestly, doesn't that make a mockery of the game? I would rather see the umpires call it a day and simply say, "game over," than see players going through the motions, especially at what's supposed to be the pinnacle of professional competition. 

10 run rule after 7?

[Mortimerkenny21]

This game had to have been a riot to watch, listen or whatever! I was busy with Mother's Day activities and finally got to look at the score, I was in disbelief!

[blindeke]

7 hours ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

Hope that hammy’s OK! The man is really smoking when he makes contact!

 

One additional upside to having Gallo lead off - he can’t hit into a double play! 🤪

Gallo rarely hits into double plays because it's either a strikeout or over the fence.

[Whitey333]

Nice article.  Great two games for the offense.  The key is will any of it continue?  Not talking 16 run games.  But 4-5 runs per game would be great.  Go Twins!

[Tibs]

The Twins love moms confirmed